Chapter 38: The Sword and the Spirit
Noah Stilinski was giving his son's jeep a good walk around as it was suspended up in the garage with Virgil and Zach standing off to the side. The jeep's body had been re-painted and all the dents were patched up. The wheels were replaced as was the front window. The engine had been completely repaired and restored under the hood. If Noah didn't know better, he would think the whole thing was brand new instead of once being owned by his late wife.
"Wow, I'm impressed Virgil," he said as he completed his lap. "This is good work."
Virgil ducked his gaze a bit. "It wasn't as bad I first thought. The biggest obstacle was getting rid of every last bit of tape, and there was a lot," he said, nearly hissing that last part. "I'm still not quite finished yet Sheriff."
Zach rolled his eyes. "Oh quit trying to be modest and just take a bow Virge-"
"Virgil," he instantly bit in. "And bowing comes at the end of the show. And for...Roscoe here, that won't be until maybe tomorrow night."
"Uh, yeah," Zach nodded after he recovered from the verbal whiplash. "Still, looking at this thing, it's hard to believe it was some smoke spitting clunker lying out there over a week ago."
"Speaking of which," the Sheriff said, turning to give the rest of the place a look over.
There were holes in the brick walls and a large dent into one of the parked car roofs like something big had crashed through or onto them. Off to the side, he even saw a minivan flipped outside down with half of it's windows shattered. And he could clearly make out signs that people had been killed here with dark spots where blood had splattered about. Noah couldn't help but think back to the night at the school when he and Deputy Clarke found the school sign thrown into the school hallway. But that had all happened when no one was at the school. Here, there had been some people.
"I can't say I'm happy that you've been working and hanging around here. This is a crime scene. Stiles especially should've known better."
"Well, everything I needed was here Sheriff," Virgil explained. "And, there is no one around for over half a mile. It was perfect for Zach to...spread his wings."
"Ha Ha," Zach droned out.
Noah sighed. "I get that but I still don't like it. Now...exactly how many people were here that night Virgil?"
"Uh, I'd say at least nine or ten, including me," he mumbled. "But, I'm the only one who made it out. And that's only because Stiles showed up when he did." His eyes fell over to the spot where he was nearly killed. "That monster, it had me. If Stiles had shown up just one minute later-"
Noah moved to place his hand on the young man's shoulder. "It's okay. You don't have to say anything more if you don't want to. Either of you," he said, glancing over at Zach. "But you both need to know that this is nowhere near over yet. These other people, their bodies just disappeared?" the sheriff asked, moving over to stand in front of a giant spot of old dried blood on the pavement.
"Yeah. I put in a call the next morning, said there was an attack but couldn't really say much more than that because, well," he said pointedly. The Sheriff nodded, showing his understanding and he continued. "They came here and saw the damage so they knew something had gone down but, all the bodies were just gone. After looking around, they chalked it all up to vandalism and kids screwing around with fake blood. Only Deputy Parrish took me seriously about an attack."
'I should look into getting that young man a raise,' Noah thought to himself. "Did you help Parrish ID these people?"
"Only the ones I knew," Virgil shrugged.
Zach then started to jump into the conversation. "Yeah, and Stiles tried to find a trail to follow but he said the scents of all the blood just cuts off about a couple of meters away from the place. He doesn't think it was Parrish who took them though, because he's a...hellhound, he called it."
Noah let out a tired sigh. That was yet another bit of craziness he wasn't fully ready to deal with yet. "When I got back to the station, I learned that we've been getting a lot of calls over the last week. Starting right after the full moon. Missing Persons."
"How many?" asked Virgil.
"Counting all the people that vanished here, we're looking about almost three dozen." That made the two young men's eyes widen in shock. "And I think it's just getting started. Based on everything that's been going on, I'd have to place my bets on the Dread Doctors being behind it."
"But why would they want the bodies?" asked Zach. "Those guys didn't care about leaving any before. What's so special about it now?"
Virgil let his hand fall into his pouch and he pulled out a random card. He narrowed his eyes as he saw it was The Death with the dried spot of blood still on it. "Maybe because of what's leaving them behind."
Noah's eyes went over to a part of the wall where there were deep, thick claw marks cut into it. "Their success. But...where are they keeping all of them?" he asked, more to himself than the other two.
Noah's phone then started off. He didn't know it yet but he was about to have the answer to his question.
The water irrigation tunnels were empty save for the loud echoes of the footsteps being taken by the two armed hunters going through them. Chris had his handgun out and ready while Gerard was analyzing every square inch of their surroundings.
"You sure you're okay for this?" Chris asked his father.
"Well, is that an actual note of concern for your father?"
Though Gerard was presenting a stoic and professional front, he was absolutely beaming inside. Fortune was finally smiling upon him again. He was up on his feet and back out in the field, where he should be. The last year had been hell. Little by little, he had been wasting away to nothing. Not to mention, secreting black...goo (for lack of a better term), from his nose, mouth, eyes and ears. Left to rot, helpless, and forgotten. But no longer. He, Gerard Argent, had returned.
Chris Argent looked over at his father and couldn't help but still be thrown by the change in him. Gerard had been confined to a wheelchair, with hardly any energy to even stand on his own two feet for all these months. Now, he couldn't be more different. Consuming the herb had completely changed everything. He was now standing and walking firm, strong and sharp as ever. And dangerous, he couldn't let himself ever forget that.
"No," he said spitefully, keeping his gun trained up. "I just don't want anything to slow me down, especially here."
Gerard let himself look back at his son. "Perhaps that concern should be mine. If anyone is going to slow us down, it would be you."
"What are you talking about?"
"Your form is lacking Chris. Your arm is not at its usual height and you're holding your weapon a bit more loosely. Surely you haven't lost your bearings so quickly. It's only been a year since you've been on a true hunt."
Chris kept stone faced as he tried not to think of the condition of his arm. This form he was adapting was not letting him feel any back lash from the damage of the injury made from Stiles' claws. "You know I hadn't exactly spent the last year lying around."
"Really, so why is it that this town has suffered such a severe infestation over the last year?" Gerard critically critiqued back. "Have you completely forgotten who and what you are? Letting unstable animals roam free. One of whom I believe is responsible for your...condition," he said, a smirk creeping its way onto him. His son stayed silent as they kept moving down the tunnel. "And for your daughter," he then added.
That made Chris stop and snap. He quickly turned and pushed his father until he held him against the wall. "No, you, you do not get to talk about her," he harshly spat at him.
Gerard then moved to grab Chris' arm and he winced in pain and discomfort. "What? Is there a problem son?" he hissed. Chris viciously yanked his arm back. "Now, what, or who, could've caused that?" he asked in a tone that made it clear he already knew the answer.
Chris pulled away and moved to lightly rub at his arm. "Let's not waste any more time," he said, turning away from him.
"Lead on."
As his back was to his father, Chris let his face express some of the pain and fatigue that he was feeling burn up through his right arm. It was mixed in with anger but not at Stiles, but Gerard. He had no right to talk about Allison like that, not after everything he had tried to do to her and actually did, to both her and her mother, his wife. Chris knew without a doubt that he would come to regret going to him, regrettably as much as he also knew that there was no other choice.
Gerard spotted something at the opposite wall and he moved his hand over it and lifted his hand to see his fingers covered in a black, smoky soot.
"What is that?" his son asked him, animosity momentarily forgotten.
Gerard observed it for a moment before moving to wipe it off. "I suppose you would call it a fingerprint. We are definitely on the right path."
"This isn't going to look like anything we've seen before, will it?" Chris asked his father, keeping his gun ready and his eyes peeled for any sign of the enemy.
"Well, there were a lot of descriptions of the Beast of Gevaudan. Everything, from a red furred giant wolf to a cloven hoofed panther the size of a horse." Gerard then let his lips curve a bit. "No doubt the tales were shaped and exaggerated through fear, hysteria and ignorance."
"And those that weren't?" he asked him.
Gerard's eyes were narrowed as he kept scanning through the dim lighting of the tunnels. "Well...my grandfather told me a much different story. He said that the Beast's was oil black. Solid but shapeless at the same time. Like a shadow pretending to be real," he said dropping his tone, sounding both tense but eager at the same time.
The two Argents suddenly froze simultaneously and gave each other a look. They could both detect that something was amiss. Chris moved to sheath his handgun and moved to pull out his custom rifle instead. Chris then resumed his lead, stiffening his face to not twitch from discomfort.
"How do we stop it?" he asked, keeping his sights straight ahead.
"Well," Gerard said, also sternly facing ahead. "Legend goes that the only weapon that proved effective was a simple spear in the hands of a young woman."
"The Maid of Gevaudan," Chris said in reverence.
"Well, at least you hadn't forgotten that."
The two of them then came to a fork. Gerard moved to pull out his own handgun and moved to give his son a look. They stared at each other for a moment before splintering off on a different path.
As Gerard moved down his path, he quickly came upon another fork, this time with four paths. Acting on a hunch, he decided to move down the path that had the least amount of light. It seemed to pay off, or not depending on your point of view, when he suddenly bumped right into the three Dread Doctors. They started to step towards him but Gerard didn't panic or lose a step. He moved to pull the emitter he had strapped to his belt and stuck it right into the wall, immediately activating it. It started sending out pulses and the three Dread Doctors stopped right in place. The three of them moved their faces to gaze upon it in what could be passed off as surprise.
"That's right," Gerard said, smiling calmly and tauntingly at them. "I know your frequency. I also know you're down here for a reason. I wonder what that could be."
The Surgeon send off a violent clicking noise which only made Gerard's amused smile widen.
As Chris moved down his path, he could see that his form was lacking. This weapon was a bit heavier and he was starting to feel discomfort in holding it the way that he truly wanted. He lowered it to reach into his side pocket where he pulled out a small syringe filled with his pain suppressant cocktail. He hadn't used it before entering the tunnels but he was wondering if that was a mistake. He had been hesitant with the idea of his father seeing him and thinking him weak as well as thinking back to his doctor's words, about being addicted. But his father vice gripping his arm had now sent a constant searing heat of pain through his arm that went up his shoulder and right to his spine. Changing to the bigger, and heavier, weapon was making it worse.
A soft clicking sound started to grow through the air and Chris made up his mind. He let out a heated breath as he jammed the syringe through his clothed arm and injected his serum. It was important that he had nothing slowing him down and hindering his ability to fight, especially here and now. The heat started to cool down quickly and he moved to lift his rifle up and felt the burden of it lessening as he held it high, to his standard fighting level. He narrowed his eyes and moved on.
The clicking noise got louder with every step he took until he seemed to come to a vent shaft in the middle of the floor. The noise seemed to echo out from it. Chris went and pulled out a flare and he lit it to see that there seemed to be hordes of insects. Beetles, spiders and especially maggots as far as the flare's light could let him see. He dropped it down the vent and when the flare landed, the insects quickly scattered off revealing the sight of human bodies. Chris was no stranger to dead bodies but this was something else. First, he had never seen so many of them in one place before. At least two dozen, maybe more. It wasn't easy to tell as they were all stacked up against each other and he could detect signs of them being clawed and mauled to death. But the most horrifying thing was the fact that each of these bodies had expressions of fear and horror on their faces.
"You want to do what?!" Parrish exclaimed out, wide-eyed and a bit angry.
"Calm down Parrish," Stiles hissed out, casting a look out the office windows.
The two of them were in his father's office and he had just told the deputy his idea. Needless to say, the guy wasn't on board.
"Calm down," he said, widening his eyes at him. "You want to go and see Peter Hale? The guy who funded a plan to try to kill all of us before he tried to kill all of us with those skeleton giants himself?" He still had occasional nightmares of the Deadpool and La Iglesia.
Stiles rolled his eyes. "No, what I want is to never lay my eyes on that guy ever again for as long as I live. Which, the way things are going, might not be very long." He let out a defeated sigh. "Look, I've already turned twice and I wasn't able to control when it happened or even remember anything."
"Wait, twice?" Parrish knew that the first time had to have been from the full moon. The night his father had been injured and had been mysteriously brought to the hospital. Which had been Stiles, from what he found from the security footage of the hospital docks. "It happened again? When?"
"Three nights ago. But...I didn't want it to. What if it happens again? What if I'm around people when it does?" Stiles then looked up at the hanging board that had pictures and sketches of people in a sudden surge of disappearances that started happening in town. "Or what if it's already too late?"
Parrish blinked as he let his eyes look over all the faces himself. "Hold on, you don't think that you-"
"What if I did?" Stiles cut him off.
Images of faces flashed to Parrish, faces looking at him as their bodies were stacked on top of each other with no light in any of their eyes. He blinked and shook himself out of it. "Stiles, calm down. Remember, these people started going missing within the last two weeks. It can't be you. What about that monster that mechanic Virgil saw. It must be that."
"Maybe for most of them. But what if I helped it along, I don't know." He then went to helplessly lean himself against the closest wall. "Besides, I've been feeling like I'm starting to lose my grip on my anger and my control. It has to be connected."
"And how is Peter supposed to help you with that?"
"Yeah, you weren't here back then but when we first met Peter, he was an alpha that was able to shapeshift into this giant, wolf-like monster."
"Like the Dread Doctors new chimera. Like you."
"Well, not like that but close enough. Point is, he was able to control himself and know what he was doing, as much he would try and deny it."
"You really think that guy is going to just help you if you go to him and ask?"
The teen scoffed. "No, but, I don't have any other ideas."
"Look Stiles, I would help but, I've already tried getting access into Eichen House for over a week already."
"To see Lydia," he mumbled.
Jordan dropped his gaze. Every day he had tried putting in a different call, to a different doctor, board member and orderly that worked at that place but he had been stopped cold. It seemed that Lydia's mother was adamant that Lydia not have any visitors from him or her friends.
"Yeah...they're not letting anyone see her."
"Well, not her." Stiles said, suggestively.
That made Parrish lips curve a bit. But their rising mood quickly fell when they heard the deputies outside the office start running about. The two of them left the office to see that the deputies seemed to be running out of the station. Parrish quickly saw Deputy Clarke and flagged her down.
"Hey, what's going on?" he asked her.
"The Sheriff. He just got a call. A whole bunch of bodies were found in the town's water irrigation tunnels."
Stiles' jaw stiffened up.
Lydia brought her hands up towards the gated door in front of her and put her body into a slam that rattled it but didn't move the door an inch. She grabbed at the gate in irritation as Meredith stared at her from the other side.
She then blinked as Lydia looked her in the eye. "I said use your hands. I never said to punch the gate."
Lydia let out an impatient huff. "Well, its all a little new to me, so don't hold back on the specificity, okay?" she sarcastically said back in a fashion that would make even Stiles jealous.
She was still in the midst of training on how Lydia could use her voice as a weapon. Lydia couldn't remember going through anything more taxing in her life. She was starting to get a new appreciation for all of her friends. The work they all had to go through to learn control and using their own powers, she had always been on the outside looking in, but she was starting to understand now what each of them really had to go through. And they were all still out there. They needed her help.
Meredith though didn't seem to be getting angry or lose patience with her, even with her criticism and slow progress. Even just now she didn't lose a beat. She lifted her hands to help demonstrate. "Your hands can guide your voice. They can help push it towards the target. Try again."
Lydia didn't think that her next attempt would be any better. This just wasn't working. "How did you learn?" she asked.
"It doesn't matter. You have to find your own way."
"What if your way works for me too?"
But Meredith didn't budge. "Lydia, find your way."
Lydia grit her teeth. "But none of this is even real. My body is lying down in a room down the hall, staring at the ceiling," she impatiently spat out.
Finally, Meredith snapped. She brought out her arms again, but this time screamed. Directing her banshee scream out with her hands, she sent Lydia off her feet and flying back until she hit the far wall on the opposite side. Lydia lifted herself to sit up and look back at Meredith in shock.
"That feel real?" she said with a small smile.
Lydia then realized that she had fallen into one of the cells and Meredith moved to close the door on her, trapping her inside. "What are you doing?" she asked as the glass door snapped shut.
"You want out? Break the glass."
Lydia threw herself to her feet and stomped off to her. "It's not just glass. That's bullet-resistant polycarbonate."
"So make your voice a bullet. Break the glass." She then deepened her smile and repeated "Break the glass" but with a more mocking and challenging tone.
Lydia narrowed her eyes. Lydia Martin didn't shy away from a challenge.
One by one, body bags were being rolled in on gurneys through the hospital halls as they made their way to the morgue. Noah Stilinski was standing off to the side, letting his eyes morosely look at each one that passed him by. So many people dead, and a grim part of him knew that this wasn't the end of it. He caught sight of Parrish arriving with his son walking right alongside him.
"Dad," Stiles muttered softly as they got to him. "How many?"
"They're still being counted. Some of the remains found weren't...whole," he grimaced. "But they think its at least around three dozen."
"Our 'missing' persons?" Parrish asked, grimly.
"Well, that's what he's here to help find out." The Sheriff pointed off to the side where Virgil was sitting in wait, along with Zach, watching the coroners wheel the body bags in one after another. "A group of people on our list were at the garage he worked. He's going to try and help us identify them, as soon as we finish bringing them all in. But, in the meantime, you need to go over the rest of the files we have on our missing persons for the last two weeks. We need to try and identify all of them. Okay, that's what we do?"
The young man nodded "Yes Sheriff."
As his father and Parrish had been talking, Stiles stared off at Virgil and Zach and the two of them chose that moment to look their way. They didn't seem mad or scared of him after his...episode near the garage. He guessed that was a good sign. He then noticed that Parrish was leaving and passing by yet another gurney. He let his hearing branch out to pick up the squeaky sounds of even more gurney wheels approaching, each one carrying another body. He wasn't sure how many there were but it sounded like a lot.
"I don't think our morgue is going to be big enough."
His father moved to throw him a grim look which Stiles returned. The next thing they knew, a ping sounded off from the nearby elevator with the doors opening and Stiles turned to take a look.
Scott had gotten a call from his mother about the bodies heading over to the hospital and he immediately headed right for the hospital, along with Kira. He quickly could make out the heavy scent of death as soon as he got into the building which got stronger as he got into the elevator and headed up for the morgue level. It didn't let him smell anything else so he was unprepared for the pair standing close to the elevator and the sudden blankness to hit him as soon as he laid his eyes on one of them.
Stiles felt a sudden twisting, stabbing pain in his heart and grimaced. Kira felt a heavy pressure grip her own heart, more surprising than painful, but she did quickly reach at her chest. It lasted for a moment but Stiles' hiss of pain was still noticed by his dad.
"Stiles, hey, you okay?" he asked, lightly grabbing his son's arm.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Stiles shrugged off.
Scott blinked as his blankness left and found himself feeling surprise at seeing Stiles before he quickly felt sad at seeing that Stiles suffered exactly how Satomi warned him he would. He then noticed that Kira was gripping at her chest, right over her heart and remembered the other warning Satomi gave him.
"Scott? Kira, hey are you okay?" The two of them looked over to see that the Sheriff had noticed them.
"Yeah." Kira was still gripping her chest but in confusion.
"What's wrong?" he asked, looking between her and his son.
"Dad," Stiles said stiffly. "I'll tell you later."
"Yeah, me too," Scott mumbled to Kira.
Scott and Stiles then moved to stare at each other. This was the first real time they'd seen each other since going into the tunnels together, which ended with Stiles leaving him and not completely their pack's symbol with him. Scott had also caught what Stiles had said to his dad and realized that Stiles must know about the effects of the severed pack bond. He could only guess that Satomi had already told Stiles just like she told him. No one around them was saying a word as the tension thickened enough to be cut with a knife. Their staring was broken when the Sheriff went and loudly cleared his throat.
"Look, I know things aren't great between you two but we're kind of in a crisis right now. So, can we all focus on handling this or not?" he sternly said, looking between the two boys.
Scott and Stiles looked from the Sheriff back to each other and in a second came to a silent agreement.
"Yeah," both Scott and Stiles said together.
"Hi Stiles," Kira said, smiling and giving him a small wave, hoping to dispel some of the tension.
He gave her a small smile. "Hi Kira. It's good to see you again."
"So, the bodies," Scott said, looking over at the Sheriff and Parrish. "Who found them?"
"Argent," the Sheriff said. "He called me to tell me that he found them. He also said that the Doctors were down there. And that you guys might know what this thing really is."
"We've got a theory," Scott said.
"A very terrifying theory." Stiles added.
"Well, the ME said that all of the people found down in those tunnels were all killed somewhere else before taken and dumped there."
Scott narrowed his eyes. "The Dread Doctors. What if they're the ones who were dumping the bodies there?"
"Why would they do that?" asked Kira.
"Maybe because they're trying to cover up its killings. Protecting it like a parent would."
Noah looked off in Virgil's direction. "Yeah, that's what Virgil guessed."
"Virgil?" Scott repeated a bit loudly.
"Yeah?" said the guy in question. He and Zach made their way over to them, noticing that Stiles and the Sheriff were giving them looks. "You say my name?"
"We did," Stiles breathed to him. "How are you guys doing?"
"You mean aside from the fact that a new body is being rolled in every half a minute?" Virgil said, casting a look at a new gurney moving passed them. "Fan-fucking-tastic."
"Hey, watch the language here," Sheriff Stilinski said sternly, pointing his finger in warning.
"Sorry Sheriff." he apologized.
Stiles lowered his gaze a bit. "Uh, look, guys, about what happened, I'm sorry I-"
But Virgil and Zach just shook their heads.
"It's okay," Zach quickly cut in.
"Forget about it." Virgil added.
Scott picked up a spike of anxiety coming from all three of them. What was going on?
"Uh, hello?" Kira said, looking confused at the two sudden arrivals.
Zach blinked before his eyes widened in recognition. "Yeah, you're Kira, right? Your dad was the new history teacher last year. I liked him."
"Thanks," she said awkwardly.
Stiles blinked. "Oh, right. Kira, this is Zach and Virgil. Zach's one of the chimeras the Dread Doctors made."
"But, don't worry," Zach nervously stuttered out, holding his hands up. "I'm not one of the homicidal ones. At least, I don't think I am."
Kira gave him an awkward nod. "Oh, good."
"I've been helping him get a handle on everything." Stiles further explained.
"Yeah, the other night Stiles finally got me to be able to bring my wings out when I want."
Scott blinked. "Wings?"
"Yeah, I'll tell you later." Stiles then let out a deep sigh before he turned to introduce the other. "And this is Virgil. He's the only one to actually have seen this thing up close. Well, the only one that's still alive." he grimly added.
"Yeah, lucky me. So, you're the alpha then," Virgil looked Scott up and down, making the alpha in question feel like he was sizing him up. He cast a look back over to the morgue where yet another body was being brought in. "Do you know what exactly this...thing is supposed to be yet?"
"Yeah, a werewolf." Scott told them.
"It's called The Beast." said Kira.
"Beast?" Stiles dad then looked over at him. "You mean, like you?"
Stiles suddenly became uncomfortable as he cast a look Scott's way, who cast a nervous look back at him. Virgil noticed and narrowed his eyes a bit.
"Yeah, but not just any Beast. It's Gevaudan."
Zach narrowed his eyes. "Le Bete du Gevaudan? As in the French legend?" Suddenly all of them stared at him. "What? I took French. We had a lesson on French stories and fairy tales."
"Well, right now, I can say that this is no fairy tale." Noah said, casting a look over towards the morgue. "And whatever Parrish is,"
"A hellhound," Stiles threw in.
That made his dad taken aback for a moment. "Oh, well, then I hope seeing the future isn't part of all that. Because it looks like his prediction is starting to come true."
"By order of the Sheriff, a county wide curfew goes into effect tonight at sundown. All after school activities are cancelled until further notice. Students should go directly home at the end of the school day."
That announcement practically echoed through the halls of the school were quiet even though they were full of people. The students in the halls were quiet as they were drawn and/or staring at the deputies that were moving through the halls, each holding shotguns and rifles. While they were there to try and make the students at the school more safe, the sight of them was actually making everyone feel more worried and frightened.
Scott could pick off the anxiety and fear pouring out of everyone he made his way through the halls. It was so thick he thought he could drown in it. He turned a corner and found Stiles as he was approaching one of the deputies. Scott was sure that he was called Strauss. He was new, brought in to replace Haigh after he had gotten arrested a couple of months ago. As he saw Stiles' face, he felt that familiar blankness come over him. It lasted for less than a moment before Scott let himself start to feel curious. Then he felt upset about what he knew would happen next as he saw Stiles turning his gaze over to him.
Stiles flagged Strauss over and was getting ready to talk to him when he picked up a familiar scent approaching. He looked over and noticed Scott standing there. As soon as he caught sight of him, Stiles flinched in pain as he felt that familiar twisting pain in his heart. It lasted barely a moment but Deputy Strauss noticed it.
"Hey, Stiles, you okay?"
"Yeah," Stiles said, clearing his throat. "I'm fine, it's nothing." He then nodded over to Scott. "Hey," he said to him.
Scott went and walked over to them. "Hey," he said back, trying to push down some rising guilt.
Stiles just put his attention back to the deputy, or mainly to his gun. "So, uh, you don't think this is a bit much in terms of firepower, for a high school?" he asked, pointing at his weapon.
Strauss gave the rifle a tense look. "Your dad is the one that issued us these things and he wouldn't officially say why."
That made Scott and Stiles share a tense look as they detected the double meaning there.
"Did he say anything unofficially?" Scott asked him.
"No, but everyone has their own theory."
"What's yours?" Stiles asked him.
But he shook his head. "Look, I shouldn't even be talking to you guys. Don't you have class?"
"Come on Strauss, what's your theory?"
Deputy Strauss cast a look over at his fellow deputies down the hall to see that none were in hearing range. He then leaned in a bit. "Do you guys believe in the supernatural?" he asked tensely.
That made the two of them just look towards one another and Strauss seemed to take that as skepticism. He just told them to forget he said anything and moved on to resume his patrol. Scott and Stiles sighed heavily as he left.
"A curfew? That's not going to help anyone," Stiles muttered off.
"No, but what else could they do? Everyone's freaking out after they found all those bodies in the tunnels." Scott then leaned back against the lockers behind him. "Remember the last time they made a curfew?"
"Back when Peter was on the loose. Why?"
"Back then, no one was really worried about it. Even when there was an attack at the school," he said thinking of the death of the bus driver.
"Two," Stiles stepped in. "You forgot when we were trapped here with Lydia, Allison and Jackson."
"Yeah, but even then, everybody just went on as normal. Now-" Scott let his eyes take in the looks of the fellow students and the heavily armed deputies scattered around. "I guess they can feel that its different this time."
"Yeah, maybe," he mumbled back.
They just stood there for a moment and found the air starting to feel a little heavy. Suddenly, everything became awkward for them. Scott moved to try and break it first.
"Uh, Kira and her dad are back at school."
"Yeah? That's great." Stiles' gaze fell a bit. "I'm sorry I couldn't help."
Scott wanted to say that he wanted him there but Stiles hadn't answered his calls, known where he was, or how to find him. But, Scott didn't want to start a fight. Not now.
"So, what are Virgil and Zach doing?"
Stiles went and swallowed the lump that had been forming in his throat. "Well, they're with my dad over at the hospital. Virgil is going to go through the bodies to see if any of them are the people that were at the garage, that night. And Zach's keeping close so they could help keep an eye on and try to keep him safe from the Doctors until I get off. It's not good for him to be alone right now."
"So, what is he going to do?"
"Well, we've both been staying over at Virgil's the last couple of days. Now that my dad's out of the hospital, they're going to be bunking with us for the next few days."
"Oh." Scott guessed that would be okay. At least now Stiles would be back home again, and knew he'd been the whole time. He then thought back to the anxiety spike he picked up from the three of them back at the hospital. "Uh, hey, what was it that you three were talking about about back there? About the other night or something?"
"Uh, nothing. Just a little something that happened when I was helping Zach with his wing shift." Stiles didn't want to think about that anymore, especially with Virgil and Zach not being mad or scared of him about it.
"Why, what happened?"
"Nothing," Stiles insisted a little louder.
"Stiles, are you alright?"
"I said it was nothing," Stiles growled.
"Stiles," Scott hissed, directing his gaze down to his friend's side.
The tips of the fingers in Stiles' left hand were now sporting claws. He then saw his other hand holding the strap of his bag also had their claws out too. Scott couldn't help but think that they were different from what he remembered. Stiles' claws seemed longer and thicker to him for some reason. But he pushed that thought aside when he remembered that they were in the middle of the school hallway.
"What are you doing?" he hissed at him.
"It wasn't on purpose," Stiles hissed back as he quickly put his hands in his pockets.
"Well, stop it," Scott muttered as he nervously looked out for anyone that might be paying attention or seen anything.
"I'm trying!" he barked out.
Scott blinked as Stiles rose his voice and shifted his eyes at him. Scott quickly pulled back and averted his eyes at the sapphire glow. He then noticed that some students nearby heard his outburst and stopped to look at them but started to hurry on off when Scott laid his eyes on them. He then looked back at Stiles to see that he had shut his eyes and was taking deep breaths. After a half a dozen of them, Stiles slowly opened them and Scott saw that they were back to normal. He then lifted his hands out of his pockets to show that they too were back to normal, the claws were gone.
"What was that all about?" Scott muttered to him.
But Stiles bounced his back off from the lockers and started to wipe at his face. "You know, Strauss had a point. We should get to class. Can't afford to fall behind now on top of everything else, so-" Stiles then cleared his throat and walked off without another word.
As Stiles left, Scott blinked in confusion before his eyes widened. He tried to call out for Stiles but the words seem to stick in his throat. Scott then went and banged his fist into the nearest locker in frustration. He had flinched and turned away when Stiles shifted his eyes. Again. Did he just throw away what little progress the two had them just made?
Scott moved to head on out to class himself when he stopped as he spotted Ms. Ramsey watching him from down the hall, outside her classroom door. She let out a deep breath when she spotted him and calmly stepped right into her room. Scott quickly headed off and stepped inside to see her starting to fill her blackboard with notes. The classroom was empty now so she was probably prepping for her first class in the next period.
"I believe your first class is on the next floor Scott,' she said, not looking away from the board or stopping in her writing.
Scott went and walked in, closing the door behind him. "Why are you really here Ms. Ramsey?"
"I'm here because I'm a Biology teacher and this school needed one. Simple as that."
"So you're not here to try and keep an eye on me? Or on my friends?
She let out a deep sigh. "You know, contrary to what you have led yourself to believe Scott, not everything around here revolves around you. I would think that recent events would've humbled you a bit in that regard."
He narrowed his eyes at her. "Is there something you want to say to me Ms. Ramsey? If there is, just say it."
She then stopped writing and set the chalk down before turning to look at him with her usual stern, expression he was familiar with. "Is that why you're really here Scott? For my motives? Please, don't try being coy. Why not just stop wasting both your time and mine and just get to what you are really here to ask about."
Scott had kept a determined look on his face but it started to fall over a moment after Ramsey finished. He then let out a deep, tired breath. "The other night, you said I had no clue what being an alpha really means."
She nodded. "I did. Though Scott, I will say that I didn't mean for that to come out so harshly. I was quite upset at the time."
"About Wilson, yeah. I'm sorry about that."
"Thank you." Ramsey said in a lower and calmer tone. "Sadly Scott, sorry just doesn't change anything has happened, to anyone. It never does. And while I'm sorry for the tone in which I said that to you, I'm not sorry I said it, because it is true. You don't know what being alpha really means."
"What does that mean?"
"Well Scott, let's start by looking at just one of the factors behind that. Your pack is broken. Every one of your friends are now alone, broken and suffering with their own separate burdens and struggles. Burdens and struggles that none of them feel they can go to you about or can help them with. Does that sound like an alpha to you?"
Scott went silent as he pictured each of them. Stiles. Lydia. Malia. Kira. Liam. His friends. His pack. They were all on their own now, and hurting. He knew that, even if he didn't know what those hurts really were. But he did know what the answer to Ms. Ramsey's question was.
"No," he said in solemn earnest.
Ramsey nodded a bit. "No denials or excuses. I'm proud of the honesty you just showed me Scott. And honesty is what you'll be needing. From both your friends and most especially from yourself if you ever hope to fix things between yourselves. I know you have your own personal struggles and problems. But you can't hide behind them and think they can excuse any bad decisions you make. Or think that everything else has to stop and bend for you until it's over. Life is all about struggle. If you just give up or lash out every time you run into one, you'll only hinder yourself."
"Thank you."
"Don't. I just helped shed light on just one of the factors behind your failure. I'll leave it to you to sort out the rest. And if you are serious about getting your pack back, you'll see this is just the start." She then went to pick up the chalk and turned back to the board to continue putting up her notes. "Now, I believe you're already late for class. And while important, this won't excuse you from being marked late," she said, dismissing him.
"Why are doing this again?" Henry Tate asked her daughter as he made a left turn in his car.
She sighed in the passenger seat next to him. "He said that he knew a way for us to find the Desert Wolf."
"Malia, Braeden is already out there looking for Corrine." He found it easier to call that woman by her name rather than 'The Desert Wolf'. It sounded ridiculous to him. "She sent feelers out to all her contacts."
"And how long is that going to take? What if she can't find her in time to help Deaton? This could be our best shot."
"So Theo just comes to you and says he happens to know how to find who you're looking for right now? Don't you think that sounds a little too convenient?"
She let out a heated huff. "Yeah I know but that doesn't mean he's lying."
"Even if he isn't, that doesn't mean you can trust him. And you shouldn't."
"Well, I don't."
"But you're still going to meet him when and where like he asked you to?" Malia didn't answer and kept her gaze out her window. Henry deflated a bit as he settled himself. "Mal," he said, more calmly and steady. "I just want you to be careful. He tried to kill Scott and he hurt all your friends."
"I know dad," she breathed out heavily. "But, if there's a chance this is real, we've got to take it."
"Even if this is lead of his is real, there's bound to be a catch. He's not going to be doing this just because he wants to help. Either he wants something out of it or is getting something out of it. Maybe it's for whatever he's doing with those other chimeras he's built that new pack of his with."
Malia widened her eyes as she looked back at him. "How do you know about that?" She had never told him about what happened with Theo, Tracey and Josh at the shelter.
Henry let out a small chuckle. "You know, contrary to what you and your friends probably think, we adults don't just stand around and wait for you to tell us what's going on. We talk and keep in touch. I heard it from the Sheriff after he found out."
"Oh," she muttered, dropping her gaze. "What did Stiles' dad say?"
"Basically what I'm sure you already know. Oh, and that Theo went to that kid that Liam and Hayden were locked up with and tried to get him to join him. He's been hiding out ever since and trying to learn from Stiles to protect himself."
"He's with Stiles?"
"Yeah, he's been helping him out with his new powers to help protect him from both Theo and the Dread Doctors."
She blinked as she turned to look back out the window. Malia hadn't known that. To be honest, she had been trying not to think about what Stiles was doing. Thinking of him was too painful and whenever she did, she would end up sad and crying a bit. She had to keep focused on the Desert Wolf right now.
They didn't get to talk any more though as they had arrived where they needed to be. The animal clinic.
Theo was standing outside the animal clinic's back entrance in waiting. He was happy to see Malia had come but was a little surprised to see that she had brought her father.
"Why'd we need to meet here?" she went and asked him.
"Well, I would've asked to meet over at the school. But, I'm kind of wanted by the Sheriff's station and the place is swarming with deputies."
"And I'm sure you did nothing to warrant that, huh?" Henry asked him sarcastically. "Now, what's this big lead of yours?"
"Well, I don't have it on me. But, I can take you to it. Well, take you to it," he said, looking straight at Malia.
"All right, let's go."
"What, Malia, no," her father tried to argue.
"But first," Theo cut in. He was pulled out one of the Doctors' medical syringes. "I need to inject you with this. Don't worry, it's just a tranquilizer."
"Is this your idea of a sick joke?" Henry hissed at him.
"You want to find Deaton or not?" he asked them.
"How is that supposed to help find him?" Malia asked him.
"Oh, no. This is going to knock you out so I can bring you to where the real thing that's going to find him. But I can't have you knowing where that is."
"Why not?" Henry spat out.
"It's the only way to be safe. For both me and you."
Malia narrowed her eyes. "You ever hear of a blindfold?"
"Malia, don't listen to him. This is plain crazy. And you-" Henry then went and pulled out his handgun from his belt holster. "If you like shots so much, I could give you one instead, with this."
Theo let a smirk creep on him as he looked over from the gun's barrel to Malia. "I like your dad Malia. Much better than mine."
Malia went and placed her hand on her dad's wrist and lowered it. "Dad, it's okay. I'll do it."
"No-" Henry started.
"Dad," she cut in. "Trust me. I'll be okay."
Henry grit his teeth, looking torn before deflating and backing away. "If anything happens to her-"
"It won't," Theo said, trying to quell the threat. "I promise."
"Forgive me if I don't take you at your word."
Malia then walked over and braced herself for what was to come. Theo nodded at her before he went and jammed the needle into her neck and pumped the tranq into her. She grit her shifted fangs as her blue eyes started to burn through the pain before everything went black.
When Malia came to, she found herself looking right up at an overhead light. She tried to move but found herself bound and tied to a medical chair. Everything quickly sobered up and she found that she was in some dark medical type room and spotted Theo over to the side at some workbench.
"What the hell's this?!" she spat at him, making him turn around.
"Safety first," he said calmly and cockily. "I said I was going to help you find the Desert Wolf, I never said it was going to be easy. The restraints are to keep you from hurting yourself. Or me."
"And stabbing me in the neck?!" she cried out.
Theo shrugged. "Sorry, but, that was for my protection. I can't have anyone else know how to find this place."
Malia grit her teeth in annoyance as her eyes scanned the room. The walls, the damp looking floors, the mixture of scents, it was all familiar. She was snapped out of her musings when Theo came over and brought a set of goggles before her.
"Oh come on," she said, rolling her eyes.
"This is what the Dread Doctors used to keep track of the chimeras. It seeks out and hones in on different frequencies. They gave the chimeras their own unique vibration."
"So how is that going to help me find Deaton?"
"It won't. It's going to help you find a werecoyote."
Now Malia understood. "My mother."
"Supernatural creatures also have their own frequency."
"Are you going to teach me physics or are you going to put your little torture device on me?" she spat impatiently. "Can we get this whole thing started?"
"Alright," he said, his usual smirk creeping up on him. "What you have to do is concentrate on exactly who it is that you want to find. You have to make a connection to her through a memory."
"But I don't know a thing about her."
"Then, think about the crash. Think about her gun firing at the car. Anything that brings you back, okay? Now, this is going to hurt."
"I don't care."
With that, he placed the goggles over her eyes and Malia was then violently assaulted with images and sounds. The pain she felt made her claws shift out and dig into the arm rest her hands were bound to while she roared out in hard agony. Yet, in the midst of the pain, she saw them. Saw Deaton. And saw his captor. Her mother. Corrine, the Desert Wolf. She could dimly hear Theo telling her to open her eyes or herself telling him that she couldn't. What she did hear clearly was Deaton telling her mother that it had to be the full moon. Behind them, she saw a sign that read Fort Jewett.
Suddenly, everything faded for her and she found herself back against the chair, her eyes wet with tears of blood.
"I know where they are," she gasped out.
Kira was with her father over in his empty classroom, watching as he held her sword in his hand. He was getting ready to have it be broken.
"Dad, are you sure about this?" she asked nervously. "I mean, how am I supposed to help my friends if I can't fight?"
"You still know how to fight," he told her confidently.
"But, I'm better with the sword," she said, casting it a concerned look.
Kira found herself feeling anxious at the idea of it being taken away from her. It felt like...she was getting a limb taken away.
"As a teacher and lover of history, maybe I can inspire you with a quote."
"Oh god," she sighed.
At least there was no one else here to hear this.
"Napoleon said, 'There are only two forces in this world. The Sword and the Spirit.' In the long run, the sword will always be conquered by the spirit."
This made Kira confused. "I thought it was the spirit I was trying to conquer."
Her father shook her head. "Your spirit Kira. You're still stronger than the Fox. Remember that."
"But, I'm useless without a weapon. I'm useless to my friends."
Kira could remember how she only felt confident and strong when she had a sword in her hand. There had never been a fight she'd been in with her friends where she didn't have one. She only ever started to fight when she had gotten one, hadn't even held or was taught to use one before.
"You always have a weapon Kira. The most powerful one of all."
Kira became skeptical. "If you tap me on the head and say, 'Your mind is the most powerful weapon', I'm going to scream."
Her dad smiled. "I wasn't going to tap you on the forehead." His face then fell again as he held the sword up to her. "But, this sword is a gateway to the Fox. The Fox is too dangerous. Your mind is a weapon Kira. Trust yourself. You can outfox the fox."
With that, he pointed the blade down and then twisted the hilt. Kira then watched as the blade then broke apart and fell down to the table in pieces.
Right outside the door, Scott lowered his gaze down to his shoes, as he practically tasted Kira's helplessness and despair.
Stiles got a text telling him to head off to the front of the school and he went through the double doors and got to the main parking lot to see a deputy van parked and waiting right in front. As soon as he was spotted, the window rolled down and Parrish waved him over. Stiles headed right for him.
"You got it?" Stiles asked, throwing himself into the passenger seat.
"Yeah, let's go."
As Parrish drove them off, Scott stepped away from a corner of the front quad he was watching from. He had noticed Stiles in the hall but could see that he wasn't heading for his next class, which they both had. He followed him and came out of the front entrance in time to see him leaving to go off with Parrish somewhere. His eyes followed with a sad but determined look on his face.
Malia headed into the school and made down the halls but took care to look out for and avoid the scents of two particular werewolves. She couldn't speak to either of them now. Malia had to keep focused on the mission at hand but she still knew they needed to know what she found. There was only one person who could see that they did. She found his scent and tracked him down to the boys locker room. Stepping inside, she ignored the surprised and affronted looks of the boys changing as she made her way right to Liam. He was no less surprised to see her there.
"I need you to tell Scott something for me," she said to him.
"Why me?"
"Because I can't right now. You're gonna do it or not?"
"Uh, he's not really talking to me right now. You should get someone else. What about Stiles?"
"No," she bit in, raising her tone a bit. That made a few nearby heads turn back their way. They all stopped looking when the bell started ringing. Malia settled herself back down. "Look, things aren't exactly good between the two of them right now. And, Stiles and I aren't really talking to each other."
"Well, neither are me and Scott," he tried reasoning back. "So, try someone else. Anyone else." He then moved to close his locker.
"Look," Malia said, impatiently. "Tell him that he was right about the tunnels. Just tell him that, okay?"
Liam narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"
"When we were down there, looking for you and Hayden, we didn't know it yet but we were a lot closer than we thought. There's an operating theatre down there. Down in the tunnels."
"Wait, how do you know?"
"Mostly by scent," she tried to shrug off. "Just tell him, okay. Tell Scott he was right. And if you see Stiles, tell him..." Malia seemed to blank there for a moment before she shook herself out of it. "Tell him that the Doctors track the chimeras and other supernaturals through frequency. Tell them that, all right?"
Liam sighed but gave her a nod and she went to take off.
The latest body bag was zipped open and Virgil cringed yet again at seeing another corpse in a different sort of decomposition and/or mutilated state. The smell that poured out when the bag was opened didn't help either. Normally, Virgil liked to think he was able to stomach virtually anything though this was really testing his limits. Seeing corpses on tv or pictures was nowhere near the same as being right there in front of them. He wasn't sure which body they were on now as he stopped keeping track after the eleventh one and had only been able to identify three so far. He was afraid he was just one or two away from actually barfing all over the morgue floor.
Zach actually did at around the seventh or eighth. It would be worse for him as the smell would hit him more sensitively and this all already freaked him out before today. The Sheriff had asked him to wait outside in the waiting room until they were done. Noah was standing next to the young man in question, watching him carefully.
"Anything?" he asked him.
Virgil cast a grim look at the dead woman in the current bag. There was a deep gash across her face that cut all the way from the top of her forehead down to the bottom left side of her neck. It stopped right at where a chunk of it was missing. Almost like whatever made that gash had dug in and tore it out.
"No," he cringed. "I don't think she was at the garage and I don't recognize her, at least, what's there."
"Alright." Stilinski said before nodding to the coroner who quickly zipped the bag back up. "You good?"
"Yeah but I think my stomach might want to say something different," Virgil said in a scratchy tone. He then took note of Sheriff Stilinski's stoic poise. "How are you handling this so well?"
The man let out a heated sigh. "Sad to say I've gotten lots of experience with dead bodies, especially in the last two years."
"Oh, well that sure sucks."
Noah cracked a small, sad grin that quickly flattened as the coroner rolled the next gurney with a body bag on top. The man unzipped it and he quickly saw Virgil's face pale. Not in shock or disgust, but in recognition and...anger?
"Virgil?"
Virgil moved to close his eyes for a moment before he nodded and then opened them again. "It's my boss."
"Okay, give us a moment please?" Noah asked the coroner. The man left leaving the two of them alone in the room. "Something tells me that you had issues with this guy?"
Virgil turned and started to pace off a bit. "Well, the last time we spoke was when he dragged to his office and said that I was a no good punk that had nowhere else to go, so I guess that went both ways."
Noah Stilinski was taken aback. He couldn't believe that someone would talk like that to one of their employees. "He actually said that to you?"
"Yeah. Apparently, his wife had gotten killed in some mugging and they never caught the guys that did it. I guess I reminded him of them. "A thug that got a free pass when he took someone's Hannah away from them." He couldn't just up and fire me so he was overworking me and stiffing me on overtime pay because there was nothing I could do about it."
"I'm sorry," he said earnestly. "I feel for his loss but that shouldn't excuse him from acting this way, especially to one of his own employees."
But Virgil shrugged off Noah's defense of him. "It's okay Sheriff. People looking at me, talking about me and treating me like a criminal or trash. It's not exactly new, I'm used to it. I have no choice. It's my life. And...from what I could get out of Stiles so far, it just might be his now too. But with people looking at and treating him like some kind of a monster. Even the ones that he called his friends."
"No, not with his friends. Not with Scott."
But Virgil just let a sad chuckle loose. "Yeah, that's what I thought about mine," he said, turning to face away from him. "But, turns out I was wrong, and my dad was right."
That made Noah stare off at him. While he knew the story surrounding Virgil's past, he could feel that there was more to it then what was officially put down in any report. While he had first been put on Virgil's case to be his monitor for when he went to the high school, the boy's father had insisted his son was a good kid and the whole thing was all a waste of time. He quickly came to agree with Mr. Edelman as he came to know the boy. But the man had also told him that Virgil's only real crime was trusting in the wrong person, and he's been punished enough.
Malia was back at the animal clinic where Braeden had returned and they, along with Theo and her father, were observing some Sat photos of Fort Jewett that Braeden was able to get. She could feel Braeden's tension as she was loading one of her guns.
"What's the problem?" Malia finally asked her.
"Besides the fact that I've never seen this place before beyond a few aerial photos and the fact that we're going in blind?" Braeden then took the now fully loaded gun and went to aim it at Theo. "Him."
"I second that," Henry added.
Theo didn't falter at the heavy weapon trained on him. "Would you mind not pointing that at me."
"He's coming with us," She told them.
"He tried to kill Scott," Braeden tried to remind her.
Theo then let his smirk appear. "Technically, I did kill Scott."
At that, Henry moved to click the safety off his own gun while Braeden deepened her glare on him.
"I should kill you." Braeden spat out.
"Won't happen with a shotgun," Theo said confidently.
"You know what-" Henry started but his daughter cut him off.
"Stop it," Malia bit out. "Both of you," she said looking between her dad and Braeden. She then looked at Theo. "And you, you're not helping."
The two adults settled but kept their hard faces locked on Theo who just held his hands up in surrender.
"Look, I did what I did to survive. The Dread Doctors wanted everyone dead. I convinced them it could just be Scott."
Henry rolled his eyes while Braeden chose to just ignore him.
"You could still tell Scott," she reasoned to her.
"We will, after we've gotten Deaton back."
"He's not going to blame you for the Desert Wolf taking him."
"But he might stop me from killing her. Theo won't."
"Actually I'm planning to help."
"We don't need your help," Henry roughly told the boy. He then looked to his daughter. "You don't want to tell Scott, fine, I understand. What about Stiles? He's been trying to help you find Corrine for months. I'm sure he knew what you planned to do when you found her and while he may or may not like it, you know he wouldn't stop you."
She sighed. "Yeah, I know he wouldn't. But I don't know where he is right now and the sun is going down. We don't have time to look for him. Besides, Stiles has enough things to deal with right now."
"And I wonder why that is," Henry said, casting an unsubtle accusatory look in Theo's direction.
"That doesn't change the fact that I could still help. Way more than you could."
"I hate to say it but there is some truth to that," said Braeden. "I understand that you have a personal stake in this too Henry but the Desert Wolf is not like anything you've ever come across before. And you shouldn't take her lightly either," she said, looking from Henry to Theo. "Not with her firepower."
"Why would a werecoyote need guns anyway?" asked Theo.
This time, Theo said something that Henry didn't glare at him for. He wondered that himself. So did Malia.
"There's a story," Braeden started. "Somehow, she lost part of her power. She's not as fast or as strong as she used to be. But, she could still pull a trigger. And she's a perfect shot."
"Sounds like she's no different from Kate Argent," Henry mumbled.
"Actually, not quite. Kate was strong but she had an army of Berserkers and her years of hunter training to lean on. The Desert Wolf is a force to reckon with all on her own and has been one for way longer."
"Then it sounds like you need all the help you could get," Theo pointed out, looking over at Henry, who kept his hard gaze.
Malia cast a look at the window. "Look, there's no more time. Now I'm going. Dad, Theo wants to come and help, fine." She looked Braeden directly in the eye. "And what about you, you coming or not?" she asked her.
Braeden stared back for a moment before she went and grabbed all her spare shells from the table and pocketed them. Malia headed right on out after her. Theo was moving to follow but he was pushed back into a wall Henry jammed his forearm at the boy's neck, holding him there. The barrel of his handgun moved and was hovering an inch away from the chimera's left temple.
"Now, you listen here," Henry grunted, deep, low and hard. "Whatever game you're trying to play with my daughter, it's stops now."
Theo didn't lose his composure. "What if Malia doesn't want it to stop?"
Henry pushed his arm harder into Theo's throat. "Is that what this is? You think that if you help her here, what? She'll fall all over you or something. You're delusional."
"I don't know. That kiss we had back in her den seemed pretty real to me."
That earned him getting his gun pushed hard into his temple. "After all this is over, I want you to leave Beacon Hills and never come back here again. You may survive a shotgun, but you think you'll survive this one? Listen to my heart very carefully." He then leaned in closer until he was glaring at Theo a few inches away from each other. "If you go anywhere near my daughter again, hurt or touch her in any way, I'll take this gun and empty it right into that damn face of yours. You hear me?" he hissed violently at him.
Theo's eyes lowered down to Henry's chest where his heart was beating. The rhythm was rock steady. "Loud and clear," he smirked at him.
Henry then violently pulled himself away and stomped on out while Theo moved to lightly rub at his throat for a moment. Still smirking, he went to follow on out.
Stiles was being escorted down the hall by an orderly as Parrish waited for him right outside. As he followed him, Stiles let his eyes wander, taking deep sniffs in through his nose and letting his ears listen out. As they came upon a door where the orderly went and flashed his card across the reader at the side and unlocked it, Stiles sent a quick text over to Parrish.
No sign of her yet
He was then brought to a flight of stairs where he was then led down to the lowest level of the building. He'd never been down here before but he heard about it from his friends after their last visit to see Valack. He would've been here then but he's had some...issues to deal with that night. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Stiles was then brought to a gated door. Stiles noticed something different about this door.
"No reader," he mumbled.
"Nope. Ever since we had a power surge a few weeks ago, we changed some of the security down here." He then brought out a small ring of keys. "Went old school." He then moved to unlock it.
"Smart thinking," Stiles mumbled. He tried to follow the guy in but felt himself pushed back a bit. "What the-" He then tried to step forward again and felt a familiar repelling force. "Mountain ash," he realized.
The orderly nodded. He then pulled out a small syringe pump and loaded it with a tiny yellow liquid filled vial. "If you want to come inside, you'll have to take this. It lets...special people through for a short while and even helps when some of these patients get, difficult," he added suggestively.
"Yeah, I remember." Stiles sighed out. "Great."
It had to be the same thing that Brunski has shot him up with when he had tried to kill him and Lydia to make him weak.
"Do you want to come in or not?" the orderly asked, impatiently.
Stiles deflated but nodded. The orderly moved over to his neck and Stiles went to take a deep intake of air as the syringe made its way to his neck. Before it got stuck in, Stiles widened his eyes as he caught something in the air. He then cringed as he was stuck and then pumped of the drug. After a few seconds, everything around him seemed to dull and grow faint. Stiles then cleared his throat and tried to move forward again and he felt some lingering effects pushing at him but he started to make his way through the mountain ash, into the wing.
"Whoa, it worked."
"It lasts for about half an hour at most. You'll only get twenty minutes and then I'll come and get you. Just walk straight ahead and make the first left and then a right. He will be the third one after."
Stiles started to walk as the orderly moved to close the gate and lock it. Stiles spared a look over his shoulder before he got out his phone and readied another text.
I found her
He then pocketed his phone and made the left. He saw the right turn up ahead but stopped when he saw a name plaque on one of the cell doors. ARGENT. He went and looked through the window on the middle of the door and sure enough, spotted a certain blonde, doing pushups on the ground. She suddenly stopped in mid-push.
"So, you like to watch?" she suddenly said.
Stiles just glared before moving on. He could faintly hear amused chuckling coming through the door as he moved to go and make the necessary right.
Peter was sitting at the edge of his bed, looking down at the paperback book he was reading in the limited light that was shining through the glass door of his cell. He was halfway through the current page when he just grunted and went to bitterly throw the book across the room.
"They call that writing? Gotta say, just going halfway through it is enough to drive someone crazy," he muttered to himself.
"Says the guy having a conversation with himself in an empty room."
He turned to look over at the glass wall and saw one of the last people he ever expected to see down here. "Oh, my first visitor and it's Stiles. How lucky am I," he flatly drolled out.
"Yeah, it's a treat to see you too." Stiles looked over to see a small stash of books thrown into the corner. "Wouldn't have guessed you liked to read so much."
"Well, they don't exactly give people like me a lot of TV time here. Besides they're not mine. They belonged to my former roommate. Most of them are sappy romance novels. And between Derek, Scott and you, there's enough to fill a whole series. Speaking of which, how are things going between you and my daughter now."
"Actually, me and Malia...you know what, it doesn't matter. It's none of your business."
But Peter actually appeared to perk up a bit. "Aww, did you two break up? Why, you both found out. Well, I can't say I'm surprised. A baby would complicate any relationship, especially when its between your boyfriend and your cousin. There's enough drama there to fill a whole tv series."
"Okay, shut up. That's not even what I-" Stiles trailed off as he let what Peter say just get to him. "Wait, what the hell did you just say?!" he bellowed out.
Outside a gated compound, an armored SUV was parked right out in front of the fence. Malia, Theo, Braeden and Henry Tate were all standing outside, looking it over. Henry had a handgun out and kept the barrel pointed down towards the general direction of Theo's legs. The young chimera threw him occasional amused looks which Henry returned with hard glares. Malia had her attention on Braeden instead, who was scanning the area with night vision goggles.
"Well?" she asked after a few minutes.
"No guards. No lights, she said before lowering them. "The place looks completely abandoned."
"Then that should be easier for us, right?"
"No, not necessarily. Especially if she knows we're coming. You're sure this is the place you saw?"
"Unless there is another Fort Jewett."
"Maybe she left," Theo threw out there. "Maybe Deaton's already gone."
"Well, I'm not walking in on a maybe."
"And I'm not walking in on so much uncertainty." said Braeden.
Malia narrowed her eyes at her. It sounded like Braeden wanted to give up. "You said you've been after her for years."
"Why do you think it's been years. Because she knows what she's doing."
"Malia," her dad said, speaking up. "I know how much this means to you. Believe me, I want this just as much as you do. But, we should listen to Braeden. She knows Corrine, this Desert Wolf, better than anyone. We have to be careful."
Braeden nodded. "Your dad's right. Your mother never does anything without a reason. She took Scott's boss for a reason. She came back to Beacon Hills for a reason. Whatever those reasons are, we don't know if its so she could have a long lost, loving reunion with her daughter, or to put a bullet in your head."
"Or his," Theo said, pointing over at Henry. "She did go after your mom and sister to get to you. After all, coyotes like to play with their prey before going in for the kill."
Henry's glare deepened as Theo turned to look at him at that last part with a gloating gleam in his eye.
"He's not wrong," Braeden mumbled.
"Well, it doesn't matter. She's there. I'm going in. I have to."
Malia moved to step forward but her dad's hand reached over and gripped her shoulder, stopping her.
"Not alone." Henry then placed his handgun into his belt holster and picked up the shotgun strapped over his shoulder. He cocked it and gave his daughter a look. "You go in with me or not at all."
Malia let her eyes shift out, meeting his, and they walked for the fort together. It was time to confront the one that destroyed both their lives and took them away from each other for over eight years. And who took Malia's sister and mom, her real mom, away from them.
Braeden cocked her weapon and followed off after them with Theo taking the rear.
A/N: The newest chapter for the new year. This one was a little hard as the pack is starting to operate quite differently from how they're all used to. Especially with these new people in the mix. Virgil, Zach, Henry, Ms. Ramsey. Not to mention the return of Peter. I hope you like his little visit from Stiles.
Scott's also taking his first steps to make himself more aware of everything going on with everyone else. Seems Ramsey's talk really got to him. I have heard a few comments against Ramsey because of her criticism but I think she is a necessary step for Scott's path. Ramsey sees Scott's potential and wants him to reach it but knows she can't reach it for him. Add in the fact that Scott is a teenager and as both an adult and teacher, she deals with him the way she think she has to with his type. While Scott thinks of Deaton like a father, and I think he has started to think of him as a son too, he can let himself be too coddling and philosophical with his advice. A wise, strong leader can't have advisors who always hold their hands and psyche them up when they are sad all the time.
